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Success Stories

T. Curley

As president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press, Thomas Curley '77 (MBA) leads the world's largest news organization. Curley is the 12th person to head the AP since its founding in 1848.

Curley, a member of the RIT Board of Trustees, was president and publisher of USA Today, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper, from 1991 until accepting the AP job in 2003. He also worked as a senior vice president of the USA Today's parent company, Gannett Co., Inc., publisher of 100 daily newspapers in the United States.

Curley was assigned in 1979 by former Gannett Chairman Al Neuharth to study the feasibility of a national newspaper. He later worked in every department of the USA Today, and circulation under Curley grew to more than 2.3 million copies a day.

B. James

Bruce James '64 is following in the historic footsteps of Ben Franklin. In 2002, James was selected by President Bush for the post of Public Printer of the United States. It's a historic position: Franklin was the first, and James is the 24th.

James, chair of the RIT Board of Trustees, bought his first press at age 11 and employed a dozen youngsters in a printing business while in high school in Cleveland. After graduating from RIT's School of Printing Management and Sciences, he joined a leading color printing company, rising to vice president of client services by age 27. He went on to start more than a dozen businesses built on technological innovation including Uniplan Corp., Electrographic Corp., Advanced Electronic Publishing and Barclays Law Publishers.

In 1993, he "retired" at age 51 and moved from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, Nev. He joined the RIT board the following year, and he's made his mark on the university in many ways.

F. Tucker

Before his retirement in 2001, Frederick T. Tucker, a 1963 graduate and distinguished alumnus of RIT's College of Engineering, was executive vice president and deputy to the chief executive officer, Motorola, Inc. As a Motorola executive, Tucker formed a strong partnership with RIT: the company funds professorships held by Lynn Fuller, microelectronic engineering department head, and Michael Lutz, software engineering program head, and also employs about a third of RIT's microelectronic engineering graduates.

When Fred Tucker entered RIT in the fall of 1958, making the trek upstate from tiny Herkimer, N.Y., he first lived in downtown's former Rochester Hotel, which had been converted to a men's dormitory.

"I came to RIT from a poor background," recalls Fred Tucker. "My family had very little money — none to send me to college. I worked two jobs after school and summers and I managed to save $2,000 to attend RIT."

S. Howard

Considering RIT's reputation as a national hockey power, it seems especially fitting that a graduate has a career designing skates.

Her designs go beyond the ice rink, however. As creative director for the Nike Products division of Bauer Nike Hockey Inc., Stephanie Howard '94 (industrial design) designs ice hockey, roller hockey and inline skates as well as accessories such as sports bags.

"How I ended up in footwear was kind of a fluke," says Howard, "but it turned out to be the perfect career for me." Howard, a runner, inline skater and roller-hockey player, notes that "I really like the purity of design in the sport of hockey. The players need their equipment to give them speed, mobility, and protection. It's a well-defined goal."

As an undergraduate, Howard worked on a variety of projects ranging from pneumatic air hammers to toys. She thought she likely would work for a consulting company and began her job search by interviewing for free-lance work.

"Because of my portfolio and the preparation from RIT, I had choices when I graduated," she says. "People were really open to talking to me."

R. Janetzki

Walt Disney threw open the gates to Disneyland over 50 years ago, introducing the world to a new experience in family entertainment. Today, Disney theme parks rank among the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

It’s no surprise that many RIT grads have found fulfilling careers at “the happiest place on earth.” While it was not possible to determine exactly how many work for Disney worldwide, The University Magazine caught up with one among the 55,000 employees of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida: Rainer Janetzki ’82 (food service administration), regional manager of HR Services, Resorts and Transportation.

Rainer Janetzki began his Disney career while he was an RIT undergrad. “I did an internship, and was lucky enough to be offered a job after college.”

Walt Disney World proved to be a good match for his skills and interests: He has been with the company for 22 years.

In a world where customers are called “guests” and employees are called “cast members,” Janetzki started out in the “on-stage areas” – the places where guests and cast interact. Janetzki spent several years managing Walt Disney World Resort restaurants. After gaining a solid background in the operations side of the business, he moved behind the scenes to the human resources area where he has stayed, holding positions in recruiting, organizational development, employment and human resources services.